


Doll Parts

by ghost_like



Series: 31 Days of Halloween 2k18 [24]
Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Angst, Curses, Dolls, F/F, Horror, Psychological Horror, Uncanny Valley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-08 15:55:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16432433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghost_like/pseuds/ghost_like
Summary: Seulgi had always expected many things from adult life, but she never thought it would be so lonely.





	Doll Parts

**Author's Note:**

> i had to write another seulrene fic before this challenge was over so.......... here it is
> 
> today's prompt was "evil doll"
> 
> enjoy!♡

Seulgi had always expected many things from adult life, but she never thought it would be so lonely; her friends were all busy, or got married and moved somewhere far away, and Seulgi herself didn’t have time to keep a social life in the midst of working and studying. If she ever had free time for herself, she would be just too tired to do anything but to stay home and maybe binge a show on Netflix. And what of a love life? That was just a very elaborate joke.

It was another one of those days - or, well, _nights_ when Seulgi started to wonder just what was the point of anything if she didn’t have anyone to share it with. She knew, deep down, that it wouldn’t be like that in the future, when she found stability and had more free time to spend with her friends and family, but the future seemed like such a faraway concept, not real enough to hang on to. The present was far more concerning, weighed heavier on her mind. It hurt more.

She had begun browsing some random online shops to try and distract herself - she was lonely, sure, but she had to spend her well-earned money on _something_ \- when an ad suddenly popped up on the corner of her screen. She was ready to close it, dismiss it like she did every popup, but the words caught her attention.

 

> _LIMITED TIME 65% DISCOUNT_
> 
> _JOOHYUN, THE DOLL_
> 
> _YOU’LL NEVER BE LONELY AGAIN!_

 

Seulgi frowned at the ad for a moment. A doll? To fight off loneliness?

“Sounds fake, but ok,” she muttered to herself but clicked on the ad anyway to read about the product further.

The link took her to the product description page, and the first thing she saw was a picture of ‘Joohyun, The Doll’ - it was, for every intent and purpose, just a simple looking porcelain doll. It looked like an antique, with dark brown curls of synthetic hair and a pretty green satin dress with ribbons and lace. The little lips were painted a gentle pink, and the eyes were— the eyes were so _real_. Big and brown, shockingly vivid in the pale porcelain features.

It was just a doll. Seulgi was never the type to collect dolls, or even own them - which is why she was surprised to find herself rushing to purchase the doll, the last one in stock.

She had no idea what possessed her to do it; she blinked and suddenly she had bought herself a porcelain doll.

The doll arrived only a couple days later, sealed inside a simple, nondescript cardboard box with no return address and no logo for any factory or store. Odd, but she paid it no mind - maybe the seller was just the doll’s old owner or something.

The doll had been pretty in the picture she’d seen online, but looking at her in person was— She was _gorgeous_. Every strand of hair was shiny, the quality of her clothes exquisite, the porcelain pristine. And her eyes... it was like they could see into her very soul, and she found that she didn’t mind if the doll actually possessed that ability.

It was that night when the dreams started.

It always started somewhat the same. She’d be lying in bed, exactly the way she’d been when she fell asleep, but from the corner of the room, a second person would appear - a woman. She was, perhaps, the most gorgeous woman Seulgi had ever laid her eyes upon, her movements graceful like those of a cat, eyes bright and so very familiar. The woman would crawl into bed with her, and that was when the dream always differed; sometimes, they would just lie next to one another and talk. Other times, they would snuggle and giggle under the blankets. Then other times the woman would take her, body and soul, fill her up and spread warmth into all those empty spaces in her body, in her heart, in her life, and those dreams would have her writhing in her sheets, sweating and flailing, waking up all tangled up in her blankets.

Joohyun. Her name was Joohyun, just like the doll.

That doll suddenly became her entire world. She saw the doll as a projection of the Joohyun that haunted her dreams, like they were somehow connected - but how impossible was that? It was only her lonely mind conjuring a gorgeous woman to give her all the love she’d been lacking.

About a month later, the compliments started. Her coworkers and classmates began commenting on how her hair was shinier and smoother, how her skin looked so flawless and how her pores had become smaller, almost invisible. She looked at herself in the mirror and she could see that, indeed, she looked different. Prettier, cheeks rosier, lips always red and inviting.

Joohyun kept visiting her dreams every night, each dream more intense and intimate than the last, and she didn’t know if it was possible to be so in love with someone who didn’t exist, but she was. She was, and she couldn’t find it in herself to regret or question it. It just was.

One day, however, people began looking at her strange. She would look at herself in the mirror and find a stranger, someone with her features, but _wrong_. Her skin was too smooth, the texture of her hair too fake, her eyes too big. She began going out less and less, spending all her day cooped up inside with her doll, wishing to stay asleep forever so she could dream with her Joohyun without fearing the morning light would interrupt her.

It became difficult to move, too painful. Her legs wouldn’t carry her weight, her arms wouldn’t bend at the elbows or shoulder, her head wouldn’t turn. Her mouth wouldn’t open. She couldn’t scream, she couldn’t call for help, and she knew nobody would come to check on her.

That night, Joohyun came to her again and sat by her on the bed, slender fingers tangling in her hair. There was pain in her beautiful eyes, shiny with tears.

“I’m so sorry, my love,” she said, one lonely tear rolling down her cheek. “I’m so sorry this is happening to you. I’m sorry I’m cursed. I’m sorry I can’t keep it from happening.”

Seulgi wanted to ask her what she was talking about, tell her that she had nothing to be sorry about, tell her she loved her no matter what. Her mouth wouldn’t move, her eyes wouldn’t blink. Joohyun cried quietly that night, holding her close until morning arrived and sealing their farewell with a lingering kiss to her lips.

She awoke to a world too big, the ceiling of her bedroom too far away. She couldn’t move her eyes anymore. Then someone picked her up, easily like she weighed nothing at all and Joohyun - _real, she’s real_ \- appeared in her line of vision, looking stricken and sad, tears rolling freely down her face. “I’m so sorry, I’m so, so, so sorry—”

 

*

 

Seungwan sniffled and wiped her wet eyes with her sleeve. It was the fifth time it happened only that day, that torrent of tears - she felt so stupid for it, her break up had been over a month ago. She missed her ex so much, and she wasn’t used to feeling this alone, living away from her family and having not made any friends yet in her new town.

She took a deep breath and fanned her face with one hand, the other one scrolling through an online store. Shopping always made her feel somewhat better, so it was all she could think of to do in the state she was in.

She was searching for a new pair of boots since winter was just around the corner, and was about to click on a particular one, when an ad popped up in the corner, immediately piquing her interest.

 

> _LIMITED TIME 65% DISCOUNT_
> 
> _SEULGI, THE DOLL_
> 
> _YOU’LL NEVER BE LONELY AGAIN!_

**Author's Note:**

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